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8 April 2003
Research into the cellular causes of cancer at the University of Sussex has received a boost thanks to funding from Cancer Research UK.
A six-year fellowship worth over £900,000 will employ Dr Sally Wheatley and two other researchers for the next six years in the Genome Damage & Stability Centre and will also cover the cost of new equipment.
"I'm very excited to be here," says Dr Wheatley. "The facilities are excellent and everyone works together really productively."
Dr Wheatley will be looking at the way human cells divide and how this process can sometimes go wrong and lead to cancer.
When a cell divides, it must execute the processes of both 'mitosis' - the division of the genetic material - and 'cytokinesis' - the division of the cell itself.
Any inaccuracies in these processes - which are not yet fully understood - can lead to tumour formation or cell death. This research aims to identify and analyse the cellular proteins involved and to understand how they regulate the process of cell division.
One method that Dr Wheatley will be using is live imaging using green fluorescent protein - which is derived from jellyfish - fused with particular proteins to see where they move in the cell, all in real time.
The Genome Damage and Stability Centre at Sussex is a purpose-built facility for the investigation of genetic disorders which opened last year.
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